Introducing Lower Than Atlantis
Introducing Lower Than Atlantis
Words by Michael Dickinson
“We are the kids of the recession”
Punk is one of those incredible music forces that blasts you in the face with hard edged truth. Down-to-earth and relatable lyrics. Instruments sometimes played with wild abandon and a general “we may sound like we don’t give a shit but we give more of a shit than you” sound.
Punk as an encompassing style has produced some amazing bands in recent times and I’m happy to report that Watford (UK) group Lower Than Atlantis stand way at the top of the totem pole. Forming the “creative core” of the group vocalist/guitarist Mike Duce and guitarist Ben Sanom have remained the two consistant members in the group which has only existed a couple of years but has seen several members come and go. Last year saw the release of their first EP ‘Bretton’. Released through Thirty Days of Night Records the EP had an immediacy about it that was hard to ignore. Duce’s vocals finding the right balance between growl and scream but it was the lyrics that really revealed something different from the average punk outfit.
Tracks like ‘Sleeping in the Bath’ and ‘I Hate Comic Sans’ showed a dark sense of humour and irony underpinning the ominous guitar blasts and gritty realism of further lyrics. One of the qualities many people enjoy about acts like Frank Turner and King Blues is their ability to speak to you personally. Referencing moments we’ve all shared in our lives, from waking up hungover with only coppers and a lighter in your pocket to losing one of your
best friends. Lower Than Atlantis fall into this category but they bring it with a much deeper sense of forbidding and black humour.
“So you think you’re hard, you think you’re clever but you’re obviously not”
The past year has seen drummer Eddy Thrower come into the line up and also the release of their first full length player ‘Far Q’ (Wolf At Your Door Records). Kick you in the head and steal your spare change music coupled with lyrics that make you feel like your listening to an old friend tell you what he thinks the problem with todays society – it’s definitely worth your time. As an album it’s one of the strongest debuts I’ve heard in a long while. What is instantly impressive about ‘Far Q’ is how much it has evolved from the sound of ‘Bretton’. In a short space of time Atlantis have already refined its sound. Duce’s vocals have become more melodic whilst still retaining his growl. If anything his slight change in style allows you to appreciate his lyrics more easily, with lyrics like these it would be a shame to miss them. The guitars are still as urgent, but now there are moments allowed for a brief solo. The drums, the drums! Thrower has quickly established himself as a drummer who is not to be fucked with.
Created at a time the band were apparently in free fall ‘Far Q’ sounds like a band who have carefully re-examined their own sound. They have expanded and refined it into something that sounds more technically proficient without losing any of the earthy goodness that makes punk as a movement so compelling. You’ll be smiling one minute with retro enthusiasm at tracks like ‘Taping Songs off the Radio’ and frowning your brow,
wondering why things are so fucked in ‘Down With the Kids’. This is music that stays with you, and should stay with you because it’s fantastic.
Most recently they released a four-track EP of covers, any group that can tackle The Police’s ‘Every Little Thing She Does is Magic’ without it become cheesy as a pack of Tesco Cheese balls deserves our respect. I look forward to what they’re going to give us next, hopefully “It will be different again”.
